Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton got questions about the same topic more often than he could remember this summer: The money, the money, the money. As NBA salaries grow, so too does the spotlight for those who get the biggest paychecks — a club that players like Haliburton, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Memphis’ Desmond Bane will soon be entering for the first time as their rookie deals wind down. Those four players all signed extensions this summer that will kick in next year; the deals for Haliburton, Edwards and Ball are guaranteed to be worth at least $205 million with a chance of reaching around $260 million if they qualify for supermax-level paydays. Bane’s is guaranteed at around $198 million, with about $8 million more available in incentives. Add it up, and those four players might be making about $1 billion combined during the span of those new deals. And now comes the next challenge: Living up to the expectations that come with that much money. There are players with bigger salaries, even players with larger extensions — for example, Boston’s Jaylen Brown signed one that could be worth $304 million this summer. But for players like Haliburton, Edwards, Ball and Bane, this is a new chapter. “When I got the deal, you’re like, ‘What’s next?’ and you realize you’ve got to prove it,” Haliburton said. “The Pacers organization has invested a lot in me, a lot of time and obviously a lot of money. The only way for me to repay that is to make them believe they made the right choice, both now and 20 years from now.” To put the rookie extensions of this era in perspective and how much salaries have soared, consider that Stephen Curry’s first extension after his rookie deal was worth $44 million — total. Haliburton, Edwards, Ball and Bane will average about that much in annual salary for the foreseeable future starting in the 2024-25 season. (Edwards will make about $13.5 million this season, Ball about $11 million, Haliburton about $6 million and Bane around $3.9 million.) Making that amount of money — contract values around the league have soared in recent years thanks to the billions pumped into the league’s coffers annually through the media rights deal, and the expectation is that salaries will keep rising for years to come — surely comes with pressure. But they say they don’t
